


Hey There Cupcake

by KingTrashLord



Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: Cupcakes, Fluffy, M for language, M/M, it's cute (I think), rhys has braces, rhys isn't good with emotions, so jack isn't a huge dick yet, this is the pre-sequel time, vaughn is a shit lord
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-24
Updated: 2018-03-24
Packaged: 2019-04-07 13:34:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14082054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KingTrashLord/pseuds/KingTrashLord
Summary: Rhys stumbled upon Jack arguing with Tassiter and did not become obsessed - no matter what Vaughn says - and decided to make the man a treat to cheer him up. the results were unexpected but not unwanted.





	Hey There Cupcake

**Author's Note:**

> This is for the borderlands reverse big bang on tumblr and my fic is for the amazing art made by starfruithoney on AO3! please check them out on here and on tumblr @starfruitspice!
> 
> Image is at the end.

 

  * Rhys, no last name given.
  * Male.
  * 22 years old.
  * Brown hair.
  * Brown right eye, blue ECHO right eye.
  * Hyperion Propaganda and external relations intern.
  * Internship has low pay but provides housing and meal plan.
  * Promotion due in 2 years if adequate work and work ethic.
  * 1 of 50 volunteers for experimental ECHO eye and arm surgery.
  * 1 of 15 to survive without any ailments after the procedure.
  * 3 months expected recovery time.
  * Actual time: 5 months due to inability to properly rest



***

Rhys was walking down the hall towards the cafeteria when he first ran into him. He had a lunch date scheduled with his roommate Vaughn, but his mind was forcefully dragged away from the thought of food when he stumbled upon Tassiter and an unknown man arguing down a secluded hallway. He knew he shouldn’t eavesdrop, but Rhys in all his years at Hyperion had never seen anyone argue with the big boss like that.

“What do you mean I can’t get a fucking raise? I’m better than all your fucking code monkeys combined!”

“John -”

“Jack.” The man cut Tassiter off, his tanned face getting closer to the older, greying man.

“Yes, Jack. There is nothing I can do. You’ll have to talk to your supervisor.”

“You’re my supervisor's boss asshole. Just give me the raise or tell him to give me it at least. I work too hard for the shit wage I have.”

Tassiter gave the man Rhys assumed to be Jack, a sour stare. His already thin eyes narrowed further and his lips pursed. “I will not waste my time or money on one man when I already have to pay an army “fair wages”.”

Rhys could tell, even from his distance away that Jack was not happy with the response he was given. Jack’s hands balled into fists and his head lowered a bit. He reminded Rhys of a viper, coiled tight and ready to strike.

“Oh boy are you going to regret this Tassi-ass.”

Tassiter sputtered at the crude nickname, but couldn’t say anymore as Jack stormed away.

Rhys sucked in a breath as Jack came stomping toward him. He backed up and gave Jack a wide berth. In doing so he curled into himself, trying to seem as non-threatening as possible.

“Out of my way.” Jack hissed through clenched teeth as he passed the now quivering Rhys.

Rhys sucked in a shaky breath and straightened. He felt and heard his back crack and winced. He didn’t fully understand what had happened between the two men, but Rhys could sympathize with Jack. His internship was stressful enough as it was, and adding his shitty paycheck only added financial stress on him. He was just lucky that Hyperion had housing available for its workers otherwise he’d be boned. He was also grateful for the roommate he was paired with.  

“Oh shit, Vaughn!” Rhys’s back went stiff as a rod before he began to sprint down the hall. He was late! “I’ll treat to apologize.” Rhys thought as he reached the cafeteria.

He avoided finger guns from strangers and walked over to the little restaurant Vaughn and he had agreed to meet at.

“Rhys!” Vaughn waved as he saw the lanky man break the restaurant boundary. “What took you so long buddy?”

Rhys chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck, “Sorry man, I got distracted on my way down.” he shuffled over to the booth Vaughn had snagged, sat down and opened the menu.

“I already got that.” Vaughn rolled his eyes, “What did you get distracted by? I’m curious. It made you almost fifteen minutes late. You tend to be more punctual.”

Rhys shook his head. “I saw a guy arguing with Tassiter.”

“Woah, what?”

“I know right?” Rhys leaned forward and set his menu down. “It was crazy. They were arguing over wages. But you should have heard the way the guy - Jack I think - spoke to the CEO of Hyperion.”

Vaughn’s brows furrowed, “How did he talk to Tassiter?”

“He was swearing up a storm! He called Tassiter Tassi-ass!” Rhys spoke in an excited faux whisper. His lips were split into a wide grin that exposed his blue band braces.

“I can’t believe he wasn’t fired on the spot.”

“I mean he seemed confident in his abilities, so maybe Tassiter couldn’t really fire him without it being even worse than it already is?”

“Maybe” Vaughn brought a hand to his chin in thought. “But man, what I wouldn’t give to shake his hand.”

“I know right? He was fucking brave.”

“Aw man.” Vaughn groaned

Rhys quirked a brow at his friend “What?”

Vaughn dropped his head into his hands, “I can already see the stars forming in your eyes.”

“What are you talking about Vaughn?” Rhys grumbled. His face crumpled a bit as he pouted.

“You’re talking super psyched about this guy you saw for like what, five minutes?” Vaughn paused before he groaned.

“What?” Rhys snipped

“You’re gonna stalk him aren’t you?”

Rhys sputtered, “What the Hell Bro? Why would you think that?”

“That’s what happened with Stacey, remember?”

“I didn’t stalk her.”

“Yeah, finding every little fact about her isn’t stalking.”

“I wanted to be a good boyfriend!” Rhys protested.

“You guys weren’t even dating yet.”

Rhys’s mouth shut with a clink.

“That’s what I thought.”

There was silence between the two men. They placed their orders and after the waitress walked away Rhys spoke again.

“I’m gonna go back to the office, ok? I’ll see you at home.”

“See you, Bro. Try not to stalk your crush too bad!” Vaughn teased.

Rhys growled and shook his head. “Yeah, whatever asshole.”

***

   Over the next couple of weeks, Rhys continuously stumbled upon Jack. It wasn’t like he purposely would look for Jack and then like watch him from a distance or anything. No, it was purely by chance, no matter what Vaughn said.

   Anyways, Rhys could continue to run into Jack - though not literally and Rhys would just keep an eye on Jack. He found that the old man was trying to get a higher position in his programming and hacking sector and that he really hated Tassiter. Not that Rhys could blame the man after hearing their squabble.

   Rhys decided that after a month of seeing Jack on and off, he wanted to do something. Nothing too big, but his infatuation grew as he watched Jack fight for his position and see how incompetent those under him were.

He never actually spoke with Jack even though he would have loved to. But he never actually worked up the nerve to do so. Instead, Rhys had a plan.

He was going to bake and give Jack a cupcake. It shouldn’t be too hard for him. It was just a miniature cake in a paper wrapping. He was smart. He should be able to bake a cupcake no problem.

***

There was a problem. Rhys didn’t take into account that he might actually be bad at baking and need to call in reinforcements. That being Vaughn who stumbled upon his mess in the kitchen of their tiny dorm, housing area.

“H-hey Vaughn...” Rhys chuckled, and futilely tried to hide the mess with his body.

Vaughn quirked a brow and looked at Rhys with disappointment evident on his face. “Why am I not surprised? I take it this is for Jack?”

“W-what made you think that?”

Vaughn starred Rhys down and shook his head. “I’m not going to even try to fight you on this.”

“I’m sorry about the mess Bro, I’ll clean it up -”

“Oh yeah, you will.” Vaughn crossed his arms over his chest and began to walk into the danger zone. “You’ll clean this mess up all on your own, but I’m gonna help you actually make whatever it is you’re trying to make for your boyfriend.”

“He’s not my boyfriend -”

“I’m ignoring your protests, Buddy, now what were you trying to make?”

“A cupcake...”

He looked at Rhys, his brow quirked once again, “You made this huge mess for a… Cupcake?”

“Yes?” Rhys squeaked.

Vaughn sighed and rubbed his forehead and walked over to their cupboard and pulled out an extra apron. “Help me clear out space so we can make your boy a cupcake.”

Rhys let out a happy cry and clasped his friend’s hands in his own. “Thank you, Vaughn!”

“Yeah, yeah. Let's get this over with.”

***

Perfection.

Well, not actual perfection, but as close as the two combined forces could get. Though it would likely have been better if Vaughn made it himself, Rhys wanted to help.

They had placed the finished cupcake on a plate and put it on top of the refrigerator so Rhys wouldn’t get flour or anything on it while he cleaned. He knew he couldn’t give Jack the cupcake today, but he was going to aim for tomorrow.

Since he ran into Jack so often he got a basic feel for where he was during the week so hopefully, he could find the older man to give him his sweet treat.

It thankfully didn’t take him too long to find Jack and in a sense corner him. Not literally, but enough so that he could offer the man the cupcake he an Vaughn slaved over.

“E-excuse me, Jack, sir?” Rhys called out, cupcake in hand as he sped walked down the hallway.

Jack turned around at the call of his name with his brows furrowed. “What do you want Kid?” He sounded irritated like he just got out of a verbal fight and he wanted to punch something.

Rhys gulped and held out the cupcake. “Um, I uh, made this for you sir.”

Jack’s brows shot up to his hairline as he stared at Rhys. “Did you poison it?”

Rhys was pretty sure that was meant to be a joke, but he had been wrong before.

“Um, no?” He flushed, his hands trembled and he felt his arms burn a little - he didn’t have much upper body strength. “I just, I don’t mean to sound creepy or anything, but like I’ve run into you for awhile and I noticed you didn’t smile a lot and seems cranky a lot and so I thought maybe I could make something to cheer you up?” Rhys was word vomiting his thoughts, “And like I really look up to you? I’ve noticed your work and work ethic and just thought that you deserve something nice after dealing with Tassiter.”

Jack stared at Rhys and rubbed his face after a minute of looking at the younger man. “You know kiddo, you said you don’t want to sound creepy but that is exactly what you sound like.”

Rhys held his breath at Jack’s statement. “I um...”

Jack rolled his eyes. “I get what you mean kiddo.” A grin crossed his face, “You’re infatuated with me. I understand I am pretty great. Though I still don’t know if I should take that cupcake.”

“Um, please at least try it!” Rhys brought the sweet closer to Jack and hoped that he would take it. “My friend and I worked really hard on it. I know it doesn’t look the best but we didn’t poison it or anything!”

Jack propped an arm on his hip and sighed. “Fine kid, I’ll eat your thing, but if I get sick from it I’m suing your ass.”

Rhys frantically nodded his head in understanding and couldn’t fight the grin that crossed his face when Jack took the cupcake from his hands. “I hope it tastes ok.” his face flushed red as Jack examined the pastry.

Jack looked up at Rhys and back at the cupcake before he sighed and peeled some of the wrapper back and took a bite. Rhys kept his eyes trained on his hands as Jack swallowed the bit of cupcake.

“Is it bad?” He asked. A light sweat forming on his brow.

Jack rocked his head from side to side. “It’s not bad.” he shrugged again before he took another bite. “You said you made this to make me feel better?”

His face felt like it was on fire, “I mean, I know you and Tassiter aren’t on good terms cause I stumbled upon you two arguing and I thought you like deserved something nice?”

Jack’s face softened a bit as he looked at Rhys. The skinny young man squirmed under the stare of his, not necessarily idol, but the person he looked up too.

“That was really sweet of you kiddo.” He winked at the pun which caused Rhys to sputter.

“I-”

“I do appreciate the thought kid. Not many code monkey assholes would try something so… Pure-hearted.”

“I’m not trying anything!”

“I didn’t mean it like that kid. I just meant in general. It was nice of you. Though I never got your name.”

“Oh… Um, It’s Rhys.”

“Reese?”

“Rhys.” Said man frowned at the mispronunciation of his name.

“Sorry. Never heard someone named that before.”

“Well you know what they say,” Rhys mock puffed out his chest, “I am pretty unique.”

“More like just pretty.”

Rhys whipped his head around to look at Jack. “What?”

Jack smirked and leaned closer to Rhys, “I called you pretty. Is that a problem?”

Rhys flushed further as if that was even possible and stuttered, “W-what? N-no. T-that’s not a problem.” His intonation at the end of his sentence sounded more like a question than a statement.

Jack’s grin grew as he leaned even closer. “That’s what I like to hear.” He brings his fingers up under Rhys’s chin and tilts it up. Rhys bites his lip and gulps loudly. Rhys could feel the heat travel down his neck and to his shoulders and that heat spread other places too as Jack broke his personal space bubble and planted a chaste kiss on his face. Jack pulled back, a Cheshire grin on his face and waved a hand in farewell, “See you around, Cupcake.” with a turn on his heel Jack winked at Rhys and walked away.

He left Rhys frozen. Unable to fully comprehend what just happened.

“I-I-I-” His brain felt like it was short-circuiting. “I need to tell Vaughn. Holy shit! I need to tell Vaughn that worked!” Rhys curled forward and ran shaky hands over his face and through his hair. “Jesus Christ!” on fawn like legs, Rhys turned around in his spot and raced back home where he knew Vaughn would be.

He couldn’t believe what just happened, but boy he couldn't wait to see what came next.

  



End file.
